European steel demand will bounce some 20 percent in 2010 as the global industry recovers, but much of the West's business has been irrevocably lost to the East, the World Steel Association (WSA) said.
Director General Ian Christmas said the outlook for the world steel industry was brightening and the association would likely nudge its global demand growth forecast to around 10 percent from nine percent, due to the improving global economy.
"The industry is in a positive mood. But still cautious about the recovery," he added.
China will continue to grow around 10 percent and you'll find double digit increases in demand in the old industrialised countries," he said, adding that this followed hefty losses in Western demand last year.
He said demand could grow 27 percent in Germany and 30 percent in France in 2010 as Europe's major economies recover. The crisis had done permanent damage to the Western steel industry as business thrived in fast-growing Eastern economies like China and India.
"Europe has permanently lost some businesses to other parts of the world and it will never come back," he said.
"The emerging economies are putting on steam and therefore, we've seen a permanent shift in the dynamics of our industry."
Christmas said BRIC countries -- Brazil, Russia, India and China -- will account for some 60 percent of the global steel demand this year compared to 58 percent in 2009 and 50 percent in 2008.
Global steel demand in 2010 would return to 2008 levels, but that demand in 'old industrialised countries' this year would only be half way back to 2007 levels.
Christmas added that restarts of blast furnaces across Europe signaled a return of confidence in the industry, but that there were also concerns about too much production being restarted prematurely.
Further growth in China and India would be domestically driven, he said.
"Rising income levels in these countries will drive domestic consumption, therefore, the engine of growth is no longer in the old world, it is now permanently switching to the new world."
He mentioned that the autos sector was going to be key to the industry's recovery. Automotives clearly are going to be a positive dynamic in China and India and that there was more uncertainty about where disposable income would go in the West.
Christmas said improving Western auto sales in 2009 may have been the result of government-backed scrappage schemes encouraging people to bring forward sales that would otherwise have occurred in 2010. But he attributed rising car sales in China and India to real demand.
In January China's passenger car sales jumped 115.5 percent on the year and Indian monthly car sales hit a record high.

The Brazilian Ministry of Industry and Federation of Iron and Base metals said that in March, Brazil's iron ore exports reached 21.04 MT, up by 0.11 percent year-on-year.
In March, the world largest iron ore exporter Vale iron ore exports hit 18.77 MT, about 89.22 percent.
In the first quarter, Brazilian iron ore exports increased by 21.33 percent year-on- year and reached 62.61 MT. CVRD's iron ore exports reached 56.27 MT, a rise of 15.75 percent year-on-year.

It is reported that Canada Border Services Agency has revised the schedule concerning the re-investigation of certain steel plate originating in or exported from the People's Republic of China, the Republic of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania and Ukraine, pursuant to the Special Import Measures Act. As per report, the re-investigation will now be concluded on July 16, 2010. The advancement of the conclusion date has affected other deadlines within the proceeding.
The re-investigation is part of the ongoing enforcement of the Canadian International Trade Tribunal's findings of material injury respecting :
Certain hot-rolled carbon steel plate and high strength low-alloy plate originating in or exported from the People's Republic of China; Certain hot-rolled carbon steel plate and high strength low-alloy steel plate originating in or exported from the Republic of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Romania and certain carbon steel plate and high strength low alloy-steel plate originating in or exported from Ukraine.

China's Anshan Iron and Steel Group also known as Angang, confirmed it would invest in a steel mill in the US.
The state-owned firm will gain a stake in a US$175 million rebar facility now under construction in Amory, Mississippi after signing investment, technology and sales agreements with the Steel Development Company (SDCO) in New York on May 13.
"This is our first mill in the US, although we already have a trading company there," a senior planning official with the company said.
The deal will need the approval of the Ministry of Commerce, which said Angang was likely to receive its backing. "We haven't received the application but we support Chinese enterprises investing overseas," said Yao Jian, spokesperson with the Ministry of Commerce.
Jia Yinsong, Head of the Raw Materials Department at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, urged Chinese steel mills to make overseas acquisitions in order to circumvent trade barriers.
Chinese steel product exports fell almost 60 percent in 2009 as a result of the global financial crisis, and the China Iron and Steel Association has complained that the recovery this year is being hobbled by growing protectionism in Europe and the US.
In April, the US imposed 30-99 percent anti-dumping duties on Chinese steel pipe imports, one of 29 trade disputes involving Chinese steel makers since 2007, according to World Trade Organisation figures.
Angang, based in northeast China's Liaoning province, has already completed a merger with Benxi Iron and Steel Group to form the Anben Steel Group, China's fourth biggest producer with 29.3 MT of output in 2009.

Brazilian mining giant Vale bought a majority stake in a division of mining company BSG Resources in Africa spending US$2.5 billion to tap what it called 'among the best deposits' of iron ore in the world.
The move is significant for Vale, the world's largest iron ore miner that is aggressively seeking opportunities in Africa, and for Guinea, where a political crisis has largely discouraged major foreign investment.
"Guinea will be a player on the world iron market within four years and could be the number three producer in six years," Mines Minister Mahmoud Thiam said. "This decision will also kick-start other mining projects in Guinea." Vale said the acquisition would give it access to properties that 'are among the best deposits of unexplored iron ore in the world', which include the Simandou South property known as Zogota as well as exploration blocks Simandou North 1 and 2. "This is a major accelerator for the Zogota-Simandou project," Thiam added. Vale will pay US$500 million upfront for a 51 percent stake in BSG Resources (Guinea) Ltd. and the remaining US$2 billion in subsequent payments over an unspecified period, the company said in a securities filing.
The Simandou North blocks 'are considered to hold high-grade (60-68 percent) iron ore deposits," according to BSG's Web site. Vale's massive Carajas mine in northern Brazil is seen as one of the world's best deposits and holds ore grades of 66 percent Fe.
The joint venture will renovate 660 kilometres (410 miles) of railway on which Vale plans to export the ore via Liberia. The statement did not provide estimates on the quantity of reserves that the Simandou properties could hold nor on the amount of iron they could produce.
BSG Resources, with oil and gas projects in Russia and Nigeria, copper, diamonds and iron ore mines in Africa, and an engineering arm, is controlled by Israeli billionaire diamond trader Beny Steinmetz.
In addition to the Guinea deal, Vale is in talks with Liberia, Guinea's southern neighbour about a possible concession there, and may seek a stake in the Belinga iron ore project in Gabon.
The Belinga concession was awarded to a Chinese firm ahead of Vale in 2006, but Gabon is reviewing the deal. Analysts believe a Chinese company will lead the project and they expect Vale to take a technical or environmental role.
In March, Chinese metals group Chinalco signed a joint venture agreement with Rio Tinto to develop another iron ore project in Guinea.
The West African country is due to hold elections in late June, a pivotal moment in its planned transition from military rule to democratic government.